Retail location robotic wall system

ABSTRACT

A robotic retail wall is presented allowing for the dispensing of merchandise within a retail location. The robotic wall includes commodity products and robotics that pick and deliver products to consumers in response to input at a kiosk. The robotics and products are separated from a retail space by a transparent barrier, allowing consumers in the retail space to view the actions of the robotics in retrieving a product. Behind the robotic wall is a product stocking area, where commodity products can be added to the robotic wall with assistance from the robotics.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 61/489,918, filed May 25, 2011, which is herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates to the field of physical retail saleslocations. More particularly, the described embodiments relate to arobotic wall implemented in a retail store location to dispense and sellcommodity products.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a retail sales location utilizing oneembodiment of a robotic wall.

FIG. 2 is a perspective drawing of one embodiment of a robotic wallusing kiosks.

FIG. 3 is a view of a kiosk according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a visual display for browsing commodity products.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a plurality of product cards.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a replenishment system involving aplurality of retail locations using a robotic wall.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a method for replenishing retaillocations that use a robotic wall.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a retail location 100 such as an electronics store. Theretail location 1.00 includes a variety of product displays 110 and 112in which products are displayed to customers. Product displays 110 arefree-standing units, while product displays 112 are designed to belocated against a wall of the retail location 100. Customers that areinterested in a product can remove the product from the displays 110 or112 and bring the product to a checkout location 120 for purchase. Inorder to allow customers to help themselves to merchandise, the productdisplays 110-112 generally keep all products within easy reach of thecustomer. Thus, even though a retail location may have a wall height of15-20 feet or higher, product displays 110-112 generally do not placeproducts higher than six or seven feet.

Like most retailers, electronic retailers sell commodity, low-marginproducts as well as higher-margin products. For instance, CDs, DVDs,Blu-ray disks, and video games are low-margin, commodity-type productsfor an electronics store, while televisions and appliances that may besold with service plans are higher-margin products. It can be difficultto properly allocate limited product display locations 110-112 betweenthese two different types of goods. While it is tempting to reduce thedisplay locations 110-112 allocated to commodity-type products,customers frequently visit a retail location 100 in order to purchasethe commodity product. Thus the retail location 100 must make thepurchase experience for commodity products at least as inviting as forthe higher margin products. An electronics store that reduces productdisplay space for music, movies, and games in order to display moretelevisions and appliances risks reducing customer visits to the storelocation 100. Furthermore, if the commodity products are displayed in aless desirable location in the store, or in a more compact and crowdedenvironment, the customer may also choose to shop for such goodselsewhere.

In the retail location 100 shown in FIG. 1, commodity product inventory132 such as movies, games, and music are stored and dispensed from arobotic wall 130. While a portion of commodity product inventory 132 isdisplayed in robotic wall 130, a portion may also be hidden from view inrobot wall replenishment area 160. Kiosks 150 are located along robotwall 130 to allow customers to select products from inventory 132. Inresponse to a customer selection, the robot wall 130 retrieves thedesired product from inventory 132 and dispenses it to the customer atproduct delivery area 156.

An example of a robotic wall 130 is shown in FIG. 2. Commodity productsare located behind a transparent wall 134 in the robotic wall 130.Robotics 136 select particular products 138 as desired by a customer 140who interacts with the robotic wall 130 through a plurality of kiosks150. Robotic wall 130 takes advantage of the otherwise underutilizedvertical aspect of the retail location 100. Inventory 132 can be denselypacked within the robotic wall 130, allowing the robot wall 130 to holdmore products 138 per square foot of floor space. Because the entireheight of a wall can be used to store inventory 132, the retail location100 can carry a much greater selection of commodity products 138 thanwould otherwise be possible. Furthermore, because the products 138 aredensely packed and stored vertically up the wall, the retail location100 is able to free valuable floor space for high-margin products or forotherwise improving the retail shopping experience. It is estimated thatin a traditional retail location, it would be possible to redeployseventy percent of the space in a retail location 100 currentlyallocated to commodity products by use of the robotic wall 130. It wouldeven be possible to shrink the retail location size 100 while stillcarrying the same inventory of products. In the preferred embodiment,the robotic wall 130 is greater than ten feet tall, perhaps reachingfifteen or twenty feet tall. Since the robotic wall 130 can extend alonga wall, the preferred embodiment may be twenty feet long or longer.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of kiosks 150. The kiosks 150 are spacedevenly along the length of the robotic wall 130. In the preferredembodiment, multiple kiosks 150 are present, allowing many customers 140to use robot wall 130 simultaneously. In FIG. 3, only two kiosks 150 areshown, but the preferred embodiment includes at least five and perhapsdozens of kiosks 150 for a single robotic wall, such as shown in FIG. 2.Each kiosk 150 may contain a visual display 152 and a headset 154. Thekiosk 150 will also include a user input device, such as a touch screen152 that allows the user to enter queries and make selections on thekiosk 150. Although it is not shown in FIG. 3, it is within the scope ofthe present invention to include keyboards, mice, and other inputdevices to facilitate user interaction with the kiosks 150. In thepreferred embodiment, a product delivery area 156 is located in or neareach kiosk 150. The product delivery area 156 may be a hole in thetransparent barrier 134 that divides the main retail space of the retaillocation 100 from the interior of the robotic wall 130. The productdelivery area 156 may include a conveyor or trap doors to move theselect product from the reach of the robotics 136 to the reach of theconsumers 140. Care should be taken when constructing the productdelivery area 156 to prevent a consumer 140 from reaching into theinterior of the robotic wall 130 both to prevent theft of products 138and to prevent injury to the consumer 140.

The kiosks 150 can be designed to allow the consumer 140 to browse theproducts 138 available in the commodity product inventory 132. FIG. 4shows an example of a visual display 152 designed to make browsing forcommodity products 138 interesting. Headsets 154 and displays 152 allowcustomers 140 to fully preview movie, music, and even gaming products atthe kiosks 150. Preferably, the kiosks 150 have connectivity to theInternet, allowing the customer 140 to learn more information about theproducts 138 and to compare one product to another. In one embodiment,this connectivity is limited to a particular website, such as a websiterun by the retailer that provides the retail location 100. In otherembodiments, connectivity is allowed to major media review sites, oreven full Internet access. In addition, the visual display 152 of akiosk 150 may allow the consumer 140 to express requests for products138 that are not currently in inventory 132. The request can be a simplerequest that the product 138 be stocked in the robotic wall 130 at thislocation, or the request can include a request to purchase the products138 and have the purchased products shipped to the retail location 100or directly to the consumer 140.

Because wall 134 is transparent, customer 140 can see the roboticsspring into action. By allowing robotics 136 to pick the products 138and place the products in front of the consumer 140 at the kiosk 150,the robotic wall 130 creates a visually exciting retail experience.Consumers approach the robotic wall 130 to see the products 138 and therobotics 136. This visual robotic motion will attract attention fromshoppers in the retail location 100, thereby increasing shopperexcitement.

In one embodiment the kiosks 150 can be designed to receive payment,such as through credit or debit cards, gift cards, or cash. In thisembodiment, a product 138 is not dispensed from the robotic wall 130until payment has been received for the product 138. Alternatively, therobotic wall 130 can be used merely to dispense products, with theactual purchase taking place at traditional checkout locations 120 inthe retail location 100. Regardless of whether payment is requiredbefore a product 138 is dispensed, the use of a robotic wall 130 shouldreduce theft, or “shrink,” of commodity products, as the productsthemselves will not be accessible to customers who are only browsingthrough the inventory.

Restocking of the commodity product inventory 132 in the robotic wall130 takes place behind the robotic wall 130. In FIG. 1, the restockingtakes place in the robotic wall replenishment area 160. This can be aroom behind the robotic wall 130 that can be used both for replenishmentand for storage. In the preferred embodiment, replenishment area 160 ishidden from view and cannot be seen through the robot wall 130. Ideally,the robotics 136 in the robotic wall 130 will be used to help replenishthe inventory retained in the wall 130. When a product 138 is added tothe robotic wall 130, the robotics 136 can scan and identify theproduct, and record its location for later retrieval when identified bya consumer.

In another embodiment, product cards, such as cards 170 shown in FIG. 5,can be used by customers 140 to select products 138 stored in the robotwall 130. Product cards 170 contain pictures and descriptions for thecommodity products 138. Products 138 generally provide information ontheir packaging related to the contents of the product 138. Productcards 170 may contain information similar or identical to theinformation available on the packaging of products 138. This allowscustomers to have close to the same shopping experience that they hadbefore the use of the robotic wall 130, as product cards 170 can besorted and provided to the customer much like the products 138themselves. The product cards 170 can contain a bar code or otheridentifier that can be read by the kiosk to identify the product 138 tothe robotics 136. This embodiment allows customers to bypass the step ofsearching for products 138 at the visual display 152 of kiosk 150.

As shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to locate a product card display area180 near the robotic wall 130. Because the cards are much slimmer thanthe actual products 138, the amount of the retail location 100 dedicatedto displaying commodity products 138 is still greatly reduced (by asmuch as a factor of 22). Thus a retail location 100 can still allowphysical browsing and present a much larger inventory 132 for thecustomer 140 while reducing the floor space dedicated to commodityproducts and shrink associated with product theft. Of course, it wouldbe possible to still have certain products 138 on display in the retaillocation 100, allowing grab-and-go shopping for customers for the latestreleases of music, movies, or games.

FIG. 5 shows a system 600 in which numerous retail locations 610 haveimplemented normal product display apparatuses (such as shelves, endcaps, and island displays) 620 along with a robotic wall 630. In mostretailers, the product mix that is displayed on the display apparatuses620 are governed by a planogram. A planogram is a plan that determinesthe amount and location of product that will be displayed in the store,the layout and mix of the physical product display apparatuses 620, aswell as the location of the products on each of the product displays620. Most retailers design their retail locations 610 to be similar,such that numerous retail locations 610 will have similar or identicalproduct display configurations. These similar locations 610 are thenusually governed by a single planogram, such that a first retaillocation 610 will have the same product mix displayed in on the sameproduct displays 620 as the next location 610. While some minorvariations may be permitted between retail locations, large retailersprefer to have multiple locations 610 to use the same planogram. Otherretailers have a variety of store formats (e.g., small, medium, andlarge retail locations). Each of these formats would have a separateplanogram, but individual stores within the format are expected to usethe same planogram. One obvious disadvantage of using a universalplanogram over a variety of retail locations is that it is difficult orimpossible to change the products being displayed and sold from onelocation to the next. To allow some variations, some retailers allocatea portion of the store to regional preferences. Frequently, theremainder of the store uses a universal planogram, and even the regionalportion will likely be subject to a pre-defined planogram for thatregion.

To replenish products that are sold at a location 610, products aredelivered to and received at the store's replenishment delivery area640. This area may include truck loading docks, back room storage, andinventory locations. To restock the store shelves, employees of thelocation receive products from the delivery area 640, and then consultthe planogram for the product displays 620. The planogram will set forththe exact location of each product to be stocked on the product displays620 of the retail locations. Unfortunately, while this process is commonto all retail stores, the requirement that the displays 620 must berestocked according to the planogram for that display greatly increasesthe time required to restock inventory at the retail location.

One benefit of the robotic walls 130, 630 is that replenishment of thewall does not take place according to a planogram. Because users selectproducts in the robotic wall 130 through the displays 152 of the kiosks150, there is no need for the product inventory 132 of the wall 130 tobe maintained in a uniform matter.

As shown in FIG. 6, products received at the retail location'sreplenishment delivery area 640 that are destined for the robotic wall630 are added to the wall 630 through the replenishment system or area632 behind (or beside) the wall 630. Since the products in the wall 630are selected by users through kiosks and extracted and delivered throughrobotics, products can be added randomly to the wall inventory as longas the robotics track the location of each product added to the wall630. Consequently, when products are added through the robot wallreplenishment system 632, the robotics of the wall 630 receive theproduct, store the product in the inventory of the wall 630, and thentrack the location of that product within the inventory. When a userrequests that product, the robotics will recall that location, and thenselect the product and deliver it to the user at the appropriate productdelivery area.

When a product in the robotic wall 630 is delivered to a customerthrough a product delivery area in the wall 630, the robotic wall 630notes that the product is no longer in its inventory. This informationis shared with a remote computerized system 660 that analyzes theinventory and assortment of the products in the robotic wall 630.Communication with the remote system 660 takes place over a computerizednetwork 662 such as the Internet. To facilitate this communication, boththe robot wall assortment analysis computer system 660 and the roboticwall 630 contain network interfaces to communicate over this network. Inthe preferred embodiment, the network 662 is a TCP/IP network and thenetwork interfaces include hardware and software components necessary toimplement a TCP/IP protocol stack.

The remote system 660 comprises one or more server computers operatingto receive data from a plurality of robotic walls 630 at a plurality ofretail locations 610. These server computers 660 include a set ofsoftware instructions or interfaces stored on a non-volatile,non-transitory, computer readable medium such as a hard drive or flashmemory device. A digital processor, such as a general purpose CPUmanufactured by Intel Corporation (Mountain View, Calif.) or AdvancedMicro Devices, Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.), accesses and performs thesoftware. To improve efficiency, the processor may load software storedin memory into faster, but volatile RAM. The software operates on data,such as the inventory and delivery data received from the robotic walls630. This data is stored in non-volatile memory and retrieved into RAMfor analysis, recording, and reporting.

Data related to customer product delivery and product replenishment inthe robotic walls 630 at the plurality of retail locations 610 isdelivered to system 660 for analysis. In addition, the robotic walls 630may allow customers to express requests for products that are notcurrently in inventory at the wall 630. These requests are alsoforwarded to system 660. The system 660 analyzes this data anddetermines an ideal product assortment for each individual robotic wall630. If a first wall 630 sells more romantic comedy DVDs than the secondwall 630, and the second wall 630 sells more “M” rated video games thanthe first wall 630, the system 660 will note the different desires ofthe customers at each wall 630 and change the assortment of productsstored in inventory at the walls 630 to reflect these different desires.

This store-by-store differentiation of products in the walls 630 differsfrom the assortment of products presented to customers in the productdisplays 620, as the product displays 620 are all governed by aplanogram that covers multiple retail locations 610. The products in thedisplay 620 are purchased by customers at one or more check out(Point-of-Sale or POS) devices 650. These POS devices 650 read bar codesor other indicators off of the items purchased, total the purchases,accept payments, and print receipts for customers. The multiple POSdevices 650 in a retail location 610 typically are networked together toa POS server not shown) at the retail location 610, which thencommunicates sales data to a remote inventory and replenishment serversystem 670. This server system 670 is configured much like system 660,in that it consists of one or more computers with processors,non-volatile memory, RAM, network interfaces, software, and data. Theinventory and replenishment system 670 accepts data from the POS devices650 at a plurality of store locations 610 and uses this information totrack inventory at the stores 610.

When the inventory for particular products is running low relative tothe expect inventory in the governing planogram, the system 670 willrequest that additional product be sent to that store. Typically asystem of distribution warehouses hold inventory that can be deliveredto stores on an as-needed basis through a trucking distribution network.When products need to be delivered to a particular retail location 610,the inventory and replenishment system 670 will request that thephysical replenishment and distribution system 680 will supply thoseproducts to that location 610. The physical replenishment anddistribution system 680 may comprise its own server to receive networkcommunications from the inventory replenishment system 670 and advisethe warehouses and trucks on the delivery of the appropriate products tothe retail locations 610. The distribution system server would also beconfigured like systems 670 and 660. In other embodiments, the functionsof the distribution system server and the inventory and replenishmentserver 670 could be combined into a single server system that combinesthe functionality of both servers. When the physical replenishment anddistribution system delivers products to the retail locations 610through its distribution system (such as via trucks delivering goodsfrom warehouses), the products are received at the replenishmentdelivery area 640 and distributed throughout the store location 610 asdescribed above.

In one embodiment, the robot wall assortment analysis system 660utilizes the existing product ordering and delivery system that is usedby the retail locations 610 to maintain inventory in the productdisplays 620. In this embodiment, when the robot wall assortmentanalysis system 660 determines that additional products should bedelivered to a robotic wall 630 at a retail location, it sends a requestto the inventory and replenishment system 670 to add the necessaryproducts to the next product delivery to that retail location 610. Thiscommunication can take place via computer-to-computer network messaging,such as a secure message passing over the Internet. The inventory andreplenishment system 670 adds the additional products as requested tothe next delivery, and the physical replenishment and distributionsystem 680 delivers these products destined to the robotic wall 630 tothe replenishment deliver area 640 of that retail location 610.

In this way the robotic wall 630 for each location 610 can have a uniqueassortment of products based on the user interactions with the wall 630at that location even though the product assortment on display ondisplays 620 remains governed by a multi-store planogram. At the sametime, product replenishment for the wall 630 is controlled by a separatesystem 660, which itself integrates the actual product delivery to thelocation 610 with the main replenishment system that delivers productsfor physical product displays 620.

FIG. 7 shows a flow chart of a method 700 for replenishing retaillocations that use a robotic wall. In step 710, products are received ata retail location 610. The products may be received at a replenishmentdelivery area 640 and include a first set of products destined forphysical product displays 620 and a second set of products destined fora robotic wall 630. In step 720 the first set of products for physicaldisplays are identified, and in step 722 the second set of products forthe robotic wall are identified. The first and second set of productsare each handled in a different but parallel manner. For the first setof products, a multi-store planogram is consulted in step 730 todetermine where the first set of products should be distributed withinthe retail space 610. In step 740 the first set of products aredisplayed on physical product displays 620 according to the planogram.As the products on physical product displays 620 are sold, the productsales are tracked at step 750 at Point of Sale (POS) check out locations650. Sales data from the POS are reported to an inventory replenishmentsystem 670 in step 760. The sales data may be sent to the replenishmentsystem 670 immediately as products are sold, or the POS may collectsales data and send the data to the replenishment system 670 atpredetermined intervals, such as once per day.

Once sufficient sales data are collected from POS 650, the inventory andreplenishment system 670 determines in step 770 which products in thefirst set of products for physical displays 620 need to be distributedto retail location 610. Replenishment system 670 accomplishes this taskby comparing the actual inventory in the retail location 610 with themulti-store planogram. Because the planogram is standardized from storeto store, the replenishment system merely compares the number ofproducts in store inventory to the number of products required by theplanogram. In step 780 the inventory and replenishment system 670 makesa request for product from the physical replenishment and distributionsystem 680.

In contrast to the method used for the first set of products, theproducts destined for the robotic wall 630 are identified in step 722,then added to the robotic wall 630 in step 732 without consulting aplanogram. The robotic wall 630 is responsible for assigning locationsto each product. Because the robotic wall 630 does not require aplanogram, the costs associated restocking products and with designingand administering planograms for a retail location 610 are diminished.In step 742 the location of each product added to robotic wall 630 istracked. The robot wall system 630 is designed so that, although thephysical location of each product within robot wall 630 may bearbitrary, the products can be located by the tracking system of thewall 630 and retrieved immediately upon demand. Each product may beidentified at several different points at the retail location 610. Theproducts, may be tracked when they enter the robot wall replenishmentarea 632, when they are transferred from area 632 to robotic wall 630,when they are delivered from the robotic wall 630 to a consumer, andwhen they are purchased at a POS 650. In step 752, the method tracksproducts that are delivered and products that are requested by consumersat the robotic wall 630. Step 752 allows the system to aggregate dataregarding consumer demand for products. In particular, the number ofunits sold and units requested for a given product may be used toimprove product selection for the robotic wall 630 at retail location610.

In step 762 data regarding delivered products and requested products arecollected from the robotic wall 630 and reported to the robot wallassortment analysis system 660. In step 772 the assortment analysissystem 660 uses data from each individual retail location 610 to createa customized product selection mix for each location 610 based on actualpast product sales and product requests for each location. The reportedinformation is used to Optimize product selection on a store-by-storebasis. In step 782 the robotic wall assortment analysis system 660 sendsa request for the unique product mix to the inventory and replenishmentsystem 670.

After the first set of requested products for physical display and thesecond set of requested products for the robot wall are determined, atstep 790 the product delivery requests are combined together and sent asa single request to the physical replenishment and distribution system680. Step 790 simplifies the product replenishment process. The physicalreplenishment and distribution system 680 does not require separateorders, saving time and labor costs.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from theabove description. Numerous modifications and variations will readilyoccur to those skilled in the art. Since such modifications arepossible, the invention is not to be limited to the exact constructionand operation illustrated and described. Rather, the present inventionshould be limited only by the following claims.

1-19. (canceled)
 20. A robotic inventory system, comprising: a storageunit, wherein the storage unit is adapted to host product bins inrespective storage locations along a height, width, and depth of astorage area, and wherein the product bins are shaped and sized to hostrespective product items of a plurality of products; a robotics unitoperable to stock the respective product items among the respectivestorage locations provided in the storage area based on placement of theproduct bins into the storage unit; and a robotic control system tocontrol the robotics unit, the robotic control system including: atracking system, the tracking system operable to track respectivestorage locations of the product bins within the storage unit, whereinthe respective product items hosted in the product bins within thestorage unit are associated with respective product bin identifiers inthe tracking system; wherein the tracking system is further operable totrack respective storage locations of the plurality of products withinthe storage unit based on association of the respective productidentifiers with the respective product bin identifiers; wherein therobotic control system operates to stock the respective product itemswithin the storage unit among the respective storage locationsindependently of a planogram; and wherein the plurality of products arestocked by the robotics unit throughout the respective storage locationsin the storage unit to provide stocking locations of different productsassociated with different product identifiers along the height, width,and depth of the storage area.
 21. The robotic inventory system of claim20, wherein the storage unit is a three-dimensional rack providing aplurality of storage cells for hosting the product bins along theheight, the width, and the depth of the storage unit, and wherein therobotic control system operates to stock multiple products of theplurality of products with respective storage bins hosted along thedepth of a particular storage cell of the plurality of storage cells.22. The robotic inventory system of claim 21, wherein the storage unitestablishes a wall in a retail environment.
 23. The robotic inventorysystem of claim 20, wherein the robotics unit is further operable toretrieve the respective product items within the storage unit byretrieval of the product bins from the respective storage locations,wherein the respective product items are accessed using the respectiveproduct identifiers.
 24. The robotic inventory system of claim 20,further comprising: a scanner to scan a particular product item of therespective product items to be added to the storage unit, wherein theparticular product item is identified and recorded for later retrievalbased on information obtained with the scan.
 25. The robotic inventorysystem of claim 24, wherein the robotic control system further operatesto track, with the tracking system, a particular storage location in thestorage unit of the particular product item, to enable later retrievalof the particular product item by retrieval of a product bin at theparticular storage location in the storage unit.
 26. The roboticinventory system of claim 20, wherein the tracking system is furtheradapted to determine the respective storage locations of the respectiveproduct items, wherein the respective storage locations of therespective product items are determined based on characteristicsindependent of a planogram, and wherein the respective storage locationsof the respective product items are determined based on inventorycharacteristics of a product mix of the respective product items in thestorage area.
 27. The robotic inventory system of claim 20, furthercomprising: a replenishing unit to receive additional product items ofthe plurality of products, the replenishing unit being accessible by therobotics unit, wherein the replenishing unit allows loading of theadditional product items for stocking by the robotics unit into thestorage unit.
 28. The robotic inventory system of claim 27, furthercomprising: a barrier to prevent unauthorized access to the storagearea, wherein the barrier is located on a first side of the storage areato restrict access to the storage unit, and wherein the replenishingunit is located on a second side of the storage area.
 29. The roboticinventory system of claim 27, wherein the stocking of the additionalproduct items occurs to place product bins hosting the additionalproduct items in open storage areas of the storage unit, and whereininitial storage operations for the product bins in the storage area areperformed based on a predetermined organization independent of aplanogram.
 30. The robotic inventory system of claim 20, furthercomprising: an electronic system comprising a user interface to receiverespective commands to initiate selection and delivery of a requestedproduct using the robotic control system, wherein the respectivecommands cause the robotics unit to retrieve and deliver a selectedproduct item corresponding to the requested product.
 31. The roboticinventory system of claim 20, further comprising: a product dispensinglocation, the product dispensing location adapted to receive anddispense the respective product items to a particular customer, inresponse to retrieval of respective product bins from the storage unitthat host the respective product items.
 32. The robotic inventory systemof claim 31, further comprising: a plurality of dispensing locations forretrieval of the respective product items by respective customers,wherein the plurality of dispensing locations includes the productdispensing location.
 33. The robotic inventory system of claim 31,wherein the respective product items are removed from an inventorymaintained by the tracking system in response to dispensing therespective product items to the particular customer at the productdispensing location.
 34. A method, performed by programmed electronicsof a robotic inventory system, the robotic inventory system including astorage unit, a robotics unit, a robotic control system, and a trackingsystem, the method comprising: stocking respective product items of aplurality of products within the storage unit using the robotics unit,wherein the robotics unit operates to stock product bins containing therespective product items among respective storage locations along aheight, width, and depth of a storage area defined by the storage unit,and wherein the product bins are shaped and sized to host the respectiveproduct items of the plurality of products; and tracking respectivestorage locations of the product bins within the storage unit, whereinthe respective product items hosted in the product bins within thestorage unit are associated with respective product bin identifiers inthe tracking system; wherein the tracking system is further operable totrack respective storage locations of the plurality of products withinthe storage unit based on association of the respective productidentifiers with the respective product bin identifiers; wherein therobotic control system operates to stock the respective product itemswithin the storage unit among the respective storage locationsindependently of a planogram; and wherein the plurality of products arestocked by the robotics unit throughout the respective storage locationsin the storage unit to provide stocking locations of different productsassociated with different product identifiers along the height, width,and depth of the storage area.
 35. The method of claim 34, the methodfurther comprising: scanning and identifying a particular product itemof the respective product items to be added to the storage unit, whereinthe particular product item is identified and recorded for laterretrieval based on information obtained with the scanning andidentifying.
 36. The method of claim 34, the method further comprising:generating a user interface to receive respective commands to initiateselection and delivery of a requested product using the robotic controlsystem; and controlling the robotics unit in response to the respectivecommands to cause the robotics unit to retrieve and deliver a selectedproduct item corresponding to the requested product.
 37. The method ofclaim 36, further comprising: performing transactions to remove therespective product items from an inventory maintained by the trackingsystem in response to dispensing the respective product items, whereindispensing of the respective product items occurs in response to successof an electronic transaction with an electronic payment processingsystem to effect payment of the requested product items.
 38. At leastone non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising aplurality of instructions performed by programmed electronics of arobotic inventory system, for a robotic inventory system including astorage unit, a robotics unit, a robotic control system, and a trackingsystem, wherein the instructions, responsive to being executed withprocessor circuitry of a machine, cause the machine to performoperations that: stock respective product items of a plurality ofproducts within the storage unit using the robotics unit, wherein therobotics unit operates to stock product bins containing the respectiveproduct items among respective storage locations along a height, width,and depth of a storage area defined by the storage unit, and wherein theproduct bins are shaped and sized to host the respective product itemsof the plurality of products; and track respective storage locations ofthe product bins within the storage unit, wherein the respective productitems hosted in the product bins within the storage unit are associatedwith respective product bin identifiers in the tracking system; whereinthe tracking system is further operable to track respective storagelocations of the plurality of products within the storage unit based onassociation of the respective product identifiers with the respectiveproduct bin identifiers; wherein the robotic control system operates tostock the respective product items within the storage unit among therespective storage locations independently of a planogram; and whereinthe plurality of products are stocked by the robotics unit throughoutthe respective storage locations in the storage unit to provide stockinglocations of different products associated with different productidentifiers along the height, width, and depth of the storage area. 39.The machine-readable storage medium of claim 38, wherein theinstructions further cause the machine to control the robotic controlsystem, with operations that: scan and identify a particular productitem of the respective product items to be added to the storage unit,wherein the particular product item is identified and recorded for laterretrieval based on information obtained by scanning and identifying ofthe particular product item.
 40. The machine-readable storage medium ofclaim 38, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to controlthe robotic control system, with operations that: generate a userinterface to receive respective commands to initiate selection anddelivery of a requested product using the robotic control system; andcontrol the robotics unit in response to the respective commands tocause the robotics unit to retrieve and deliver a selected product itemcorresponding to the requested product.
 41. The machine-readable storagemedium of claim 40, wherein the instructions further cause the machineto further control the retrieval and delivery of a selected productitem, with operations that: perform transactions to remove therespective product items from an inventory maintained by the trackingsystem in response to dispensing the respective product items, whereindispensing of the respective product items occurs in response to successof an electronic transaction with an electronic payment processingsystem to effect payment of the requested product items.